Analysts Draw Comparisons, Point Out Differences Between HIV, Ebola Responses

Sep 18, 2014

The Hill: Ebola responders look to lessons from HIV
“As the Ebola crisis deepens in West Africa, health leaders are taking cues from the international response to another deadly virus that has ravaged the continent — HIV. Chinua Akukwe, the lead African analyst with the National Academy of Public Administration, told lawmakers Wednesday that the U.S. should look at its response to HIV/AIDS over the last decade when mapping out its plan to fight Ebola. … ‘It’s sort of an inevitable comparison,’ said Jen Kates, the vice president and director of global health and HIV policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation. … But Kates … said there are also key differences. … She said if the international community devotes the resources that it’s promised to control the outbreak, it can prevent the type of decades-long campaign that’s been needed to combat HIV…” (Ferris, 9/17).